Sunday, October 31, 2010

Remember that Wahhabi "rehab" that was supposed to "cure" hardened jihadis? Looks like it's about as effective as regular rehab since, according to this piece in the Weekly Standard, many former Saudi rehab"patients"--who, quel surprise, had also served a stint in Gitmo--have ended up running off and joining the Yemen branch of Al Qaeda:

Finally, Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano confirmed this morning that the Saudis, who have been an uneven partner in the fight against al Qaeda, provided the intelligence that allowed authorities to locate and diffuse the two bombs. There are good reasons why the Saudis would have their fingers on the pulse of AQAP. The organization has repeatedly targeted the Saudi royals. And most of the former Gitmo detainees who have joined AQAP graduated from Saudi Arabia’s rehabilitation program for jihadists.

In the international arena, the Harper government stands second to none in its support for Israel. Domestically, alas, its record of standing up for freedom and democracy is much spottier, writes Kathy Shaidle:

...One of the issues that [Salim] Mansur says Harper is trying to avoid is immigration reform. It has not escaped the average Canadian’s notice that Omar Khadr’s parents were immigrants, as were members of the Toronto 18 terrorist group and leaders of the lawfare campaigns targeting Levant and Steyn. Stories about Toronto’s “welfare harems” and Quebec’s proposed burqa ban also have been widely reported.

Yet bizarrely, just as voters and even the media have begun openly discussing this “third rail” of Canadian politics, the Conservative Party seems determined to ignore immigration reform. One exception did come late last year, when the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration unveiled a new guidebook for immigrants. At least in theory, all newcomers are required to read Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship, which advises them that “Canada’s openness and generosity do not extend to barbaric cultural practices that tolerate spousal abuse, ‘honor killings,’ female genital mutilation, or other gender-based violence.” However, the ministry took some heat for appearing to tone down references to gay rights in the guide, presumably to avoid offending the same constituency being warned about honor killings.

David Harris, the director of the International and Terrorist Intelligence Program for INSIGNIS Strategic Research, seconded the need for immigration reform back in 2008, insisting that “immigration must be brought under immediate control. … Bringing over a quarter of a million people a year into Canada is unconscionable in this threat environment, and it should be no surprise that our few thousand security officials are overworked.”

It seems that Harris’ warnings have gone largely unheeded by the Conservative Party. He now observes, “Unfortunately, events of the last year or two point to a shifting of the Conservative government in favor of the promiscuous immigration approaches that place vote banks first, and safety and security a distant second.”

Politics was supposed to be strictly off limits at yesterday's "apolitical" TV smirkers' rally. Unfortunately, some of those who showed up didn't get that memo and decided to put Hitler 'staches on various non-Democrats:

Much of the blogosphere is appalled, as well it should be, at the selection of Yusuf Islam — né Cat Stevens — to perform at Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s now absurdly named “Rally to Restore Sanity.” As the world well knows, Islam/Stevens is the man who endorsed the fatwa on Salman Rushdie and on more than one occasion said he wished he could carry it out and murder Rushdie himself.

And if that isn’t enough — and it should be — Islam is a misogynist who won’t talk to women. (Take another listen to the paternalistic “Wild World” if you want to hear the psychological roots of his profound “religious” belief.)

So what’s up with Stewart and Colbert? Why would they have a man like that singing at their event? Is this PC cultural relativism gone berserk? (“Hey, dude, it’s cool. Yusuf’s into the fatwa thing, you dig? He loves Khomeini just like Foucault did. All cultures are equal, you know. Who are we to judge?”) If that’s so, why not invite Khalid Sheik Mohammed to perform? He actually took the head off Daniel Pearl. He didn’t just talk the talk. He walked the walk.

But I think there’s another explanation for Islam’s appearance and it’s much simpler: Stewart and Colbert are dumb and uniformed. Although they pretend to be more, they are just mildly talented entertainers with the depth of a petri dish who rely on their writers to stoke them with material and ideas. And no one told them Cat Stevens supported killing a fellow artist merely for exercising free expression. And unlike many of you, they simply didn’t know themselves. They thought he was, you know, just a peaceful ex-hippie dude who went Islamic spiritual instead of zen. (Okay, that irritated some people, but so what? It would be nice to see them squirm.)...

Oh, Roger, you're such a trapezoid! All the really cool kids know that issuing fatwas and supporting Hamas is no biggie--not nearly as bad as, say, what McBushitler did at Abu Ghraib. Get on the irony-fueled peace train already, 'cuz holy-moly it's a funsational ride!

Q We are a Christian family. Our daughter, 7, goes to a school where there are many Muslim kids. Some of their moms walk them to school in burqas. My daughter is fascinated by these mysterious “costumes” and says she wants to go out on Halloween as a “Muslim lady.” Do I let her?

Here's his answer, one that's perfectly in keeping with the Star's muliculti ethos in which tiptoeing around the controversial and endeavoring to never give offence to anyone, ever, ranks numero uno in the Trudeaupian rule book:

A: Absolutely not.

In the first place, the Muslim community in Canada is conflicted, within itself, about the place of the burqa in religious life.

At one extreme are those, of both genders, who see wearing these garments as a matter of religious devotion, even obligation, for Muslim women. At the other, many see them as signs of the oppression of women, and therefore offensive in a progressive society like ours.

These are complicated questions. Even those women who claim they have “chosen” to wear the burqa sometimes testify that, although it was their “free” choice, choosing not to wear it could result in trouble — either at home or in their community. One wonders, therefore, whether a choice made under those conditions is really in any sense free.

Allowing your daughter to dress this way, therefore, is to inject her into the middle of not just one, but two controversies. Not only is that unfair to her, but disrespectful of your Muslim neighbours. I would hope that if your next-door neighbours were having an internal family argument, you wouldn’t knowingly send your kid into the middle of it. Same reasoning applies here.

There will be people who read this and accuse me, as they so often accuse liberal media-types, of Islamophobia, i.e. being scared of Muslims and therefore affording them more respect than we give to Christians. “After all,” they will say, “kids have dressed up as priests and nuns for years on Halloween, and no one said Boo.” True enough — but isn’t it different if Rick Mercer or Mary Walsh teases Newfoundlanders about their unique ways than if a Torontonian calls them Newfies and makes fun of them? Some things that are appropriate inside a family feel different when they come from outside. If a black kid wants to dress up as Jackie Robinson then go for it — but I’m not sure a white kid should put on blackface makeup to do it.

You have a teaching opportunity here, to help your daughter understand the complexities of multiculturalism and mutual respect. Use it — then let her go out as something really scary — a vampire, a lawyer, even Rob Ford.

Got that? Rob Ford: creepy, kooky, scary, ooky. Multiculturalism: topping, swell, even when it entails beliefs and attitudes, such as forcing chicks into sharia fun sacks, that, clearly, do not belong in and are antithetical to a free society. And tweaking Islam in any way: verboten, not an option, beyond the pale,

My answer would have been a whole lot shorter--and much more "insensitive": Don't let your daughter wear a burqa. Tell her it's a symbol of oppression--women costumed as their society views them, i.e. as a blank, a nullity, a void--that is out of place in a free, democratic, non-sharia-ruled country like Canada, where women have the same rights as men. Point out to her that the difference between her wearing a burqa and a "Muslim lady" wearing one is that, for her, it's dress up, but for those other women, its a requirement, one that, should she fail to heed it, could result in her being injured and perhaps even killed. And if you don't teach her that, and stuff her head full of the squishy equivocations the "ethics columnist" suggests, you are doing her, her country and, indeed, all of Western civilization a huge disservice.

Don't put your daughter in a bag, Mr. Infidel.Don't put your daughter in a bag.She's a little bit of a meeskite,Much wider than she's tall.And the chance she'd be had,Even unclad,Is nil to none at all.She's a loud girl,Who laughs just like whooping craneThe sound of which drives one insaneAnd about which I wouldn't brag.But on my knees, Mr. Infidel,Please, Mr. Infidel,Don't put your daughter in a bag...

Saturday, October 30, 2010

It's looking like those two Yemeni Al Quaeda bombs were supposed to go off in the holds of the cargo planes that were carrying them and not at the Chicago synagogues to which they were addressed. If that turns out to be so, then addressing them to the Chicago shuls can be seen as an example of the jihadis' malevolently hateful humour. Sort of like the Nazis placing a sign reading "work makes you free" at the entrance of the Auschwitz death camp.

So what if Iran keeps enriching in the face of concerted world bitching? That doesn't mean it should be shunned, made to feel like an outcast, a pariah, a....a...Israel. That's the thinking, no doubt, behind a major UN agency holding a big shindig in, of all places, Tehran, much to the Tehran Times's wicked glee:

TEHRAN -- Scholars from around the world will be gathering in Tehran to observe World Philosophy Day this year.

Proclaimed by UNESCO, World Philosophy Day is observed annually on the third Thursday of November to honor philosophical reflections around the world.

The world is well aware of the scientific and historical position of Iran in possessing and boosting the science of philosophy, said Iran’s representative at UNESCO Headquarter in Paris Mohammadreza Majidi.

UNESCO Headquarter in Paris hosted a session on World Philosophy Day Congress on Thursday where representatives from Iran and several other countries attended.

Majidi said that the foreign representatives at UNESCO Headquarters were also invited to attend the congress in Tehran.

Running in Tehran from November 21 to 23, the congress will be directed by scholar Qolamali Haddad Adel.

Deputy Director of the congress Gholamreza Avani also gave some details and said that Iran offered to host the event two years ago and luckily, the proposal was accepted by UNESCO, the Persian Service of IRNA reported on Friday.

“200 papers selected by the scientific council of the congress are to be presented. A series of theses by students of philosophy, a collection of historical manuscripts, as well as books published by foreign writers on philosophy will go on exhibit at the side section of the program,” said secretary of the event Mohammad-Hossein Imani Khoshkhu.

The stamp of the congress will also be unveiled during the program, he remarked.

Secretary General of the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO Mohammadreza Saeidabadi also praised the special status of philosophy in Iran before and after Islam and said, “The congress will surely provide an opportunity for dialogue among the world’s philosophers which will help reach a common understanding of the current world and its problems.”

UNESCO’s Social and Human Sciences Sector director Maria del Pilar Alvarez-Laso visited Iran several days ago to attend the programming meeting for World Philosophy Day Congress.

The irony of holding UNESCO World Philosophy Day in a country whose entire philosophy can be summed up in the phrase, "Allahu Akbar, nuke the Jews!" apparently being lost on Maria.

(ANSAmed) - GAZA, OCTOBER 26 - Initially they breathed a sigh of relief, but the sensation quickly turned into worries. When last month Israel authorised the introduction of brand new automobiles into the Gaza Strip, people were very happy. But now the Hamas Interior Minister warned that those vehicles could be an updated version of the Trojan Horse. According to unconfirmed news, a bug installed by Israel secret services was found in one of the cars. It was enough for a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry to immediately issue a warning to the military heads of Hamas to not travel in any of the cars that have arrived from Israel. Before the vehicles can be used, the vehicles will have to undergo a thorough inspection by Hamas security experts. Sources in the press added that Israel has allowed for 240 cars per month to enter into the Strip, including various models (but not all-terrain vehicles). For now Hyundais and Volkswagen-Golfs can be seen on the streets of the Gaza Strip. Several residents have already reserved new luxury BMW models. The used car market immediately reacted to these developments and in the last month, prices have abruptly been cut in half.

Those dastardly Jews with their luxury car imports and their Trojan Horses. They're such...Nazis!

Those of us of a certain age may remember Emily Latella. She was the sweet but rather hard of hearing old biddy created by the late Gilda Radner. Emily was always complaining about something in no uncertain terms, until it was gently pointed out to her that she had misheard, say, the "death" penalty as the "deaf" penalty or the "Equal Rights Amendment" as the "Eagle Rights Amendment." At which point, having no complaints about those things, she would ratchet down her dudgeon, look straight into the camera, smile sweetly, and say, "Never mind."

I haven't thought about Emily and her outrage in a while. What brought her to mind this morning was reading the words of one Mohamed H. Amery, of London, Ontario. That's the city that will play host, reluctantly, to "flagrant Islamophobe" Mark Steyn. Mr. Amery, a fully paid up member of the multicultist Trudeaupian tribe, is having none of it. In the course of this anti-Steyn tirade published in the local rag, he slips in a delightful Litellaism (H/T AW):

THE UNWELCOME MUCKRACKER There was a time not too long ago when most Canadians believed strongly in living in a just society, where everyone was equal to every other one regardless of ethnic origin, religious belief or political orientation. It appears that such is not the case anymore. Not when London and its once highly regarded University invite such apostles of hate as Ann Coulter and Mark Steyn to spew their political poison and garbage from the podiums of our town halls and conference centers, thereby catering to warped minds and extremist ideology. The sponsored of the detested event claim the did so in their pursuit of encouraging free speech. This Andrew Lawton and his cohorts must think very little of the London audience Freedom of speech is well and good when it educates, informs and creates a venue for the exchange of ideas in order to improve the cultural and political climate which we all share. Freedom of speech should not mean the liberty to tarnish an individual's or a group's name or agitate against them, or create a false climate of fear from a religion or a religious group. Because that is exactly what the Steyns and Coulters have done here and elsewhere against Islam and Muslims.

When Vic Toes, the Minister of Public Safety, orders the RCMP to not attend a peace conference in Ottawa because it was sponsored by the Canadian Islamic Congress, or when Peter Mackay,the Minister of National Defense, bars a Canadian Muslim cleric from taking part at a National Defense event celebration the Islamic Heritage month, freedom of speech is trampled with not a voice heard in protest. And the Media remained silent .The once compassionate and easy-going Canada is under attack, from within its borders, by extremist and bigoted factions from within and outside the governmental ranks. It is highly respected history of being a global friend, of being a friction-less society with a lofty level of tolerance for cultural and religious differences, of being different than our rampaging neighbour to the South, is in danger of being eroded. Our media has to assume a share of the blame for highlighting negative cultural or religious incidents, and for being weak kneed when it comes to coming down hard on bigots and extremists like Steyn . He and his cult are unwelcome and unwanted among us , and Western gets thumbs down for having its name associated with the likes of Steyn.

One final note . The ultra conservative city of Calgary, a great metropolis of more than a million residents, elects its first Canadian born Muslim Mayor. And what does the fair city of London boast? Hosting Matrk Steyn, of course. What a merciless fate.

Here's how the global jihad operates: three suspicious packages (that turn out not to be bombs, but that may have been shipped via air cargo as an experiment in what amounted to a dry run for a future bombing) start out in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the U.K., and Jewish instituions in the Chicago area, but only in the Chicago area, are told to beef up security. From ABC News:

...A spokeswoman for the Jewish Federation of Chicago told ABC News the federation was alerted this morning and passed on the alert, advising local synagogues to take security precautions. She also said the group was not one of the targets, nor did she believe that any Chicago synagogues were targeted.

The FBI's Chicago office said that the packages "in question" had been addressed to two Chicago locations, but would not provide further details. The FBI "notified the targeted institutions" by phone this morning, according to a spokesman.

The Anti-Defamation League released a statement that said it had learned from "law enforcement sources" of a reported threat to Jewish institutions in packages shipped from the U.K., Yemen and Saudi Arabia, and that it had sent notice to Jewish organizations across the U.S.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: it isn't "Islamophobia" if they're really trying to blow you up.

While Western society takes pride in its present-day scientific, technological and cultural advancements, few realize the significance of the intellectual stepping-stones provided by Muslim scholarship and innovation, especially during periods of European oppression and stagnation. The Muslims of the Middle Ages and earlier were instrumental in keeping the flame of civilization and advanced learning alight at times when other societies were unable to do so. And because of that intellectual perseverance, we all benefit.

Even were it true that Muslims kept civilization's homefires burning brightly until the kafirs got their act together during the Renaissance, one might well be tempted to ask, paraphrasing a Jackson, "what have you done for us lately?" But, as Robert Spencer has written,

retailing the idea that Islamic culture was once a beacon of learning and enlightenment (is) a common myth, and one that is ultimately meant to make non-Muslims relax and love the jihad.

But in fact, much of the most common claims about the great achievements of Islamic culture have been exaggerated, often for quite transparent apologetic motives. The astrolabe was developed, if not perfected, long before Muhammad was born. The zero, which is often attributed to Muslims, and what we know today as "Arabic numerals" did not originate in Arabia, but in pre-Islamic India. Aristotle's work was preserved in Arabic not initially by Muslims at all, but by Christians such as the fifth century priest Probus of Antioch, who introduced Aristotle to the Arabic-speaking world. Another Christian, Huneyn ibn-Ishaq (809-873), translated many works by Aristotle, Galen, Plato and Hippocrates into Syriac. His son then translated them into Arabic. The Syrian Christian Yahya ibn 'Adi (893-974) also translated works of philosophy into Arabic, and wrote one of his own, The Reformation of Morals. His student, another Christian named Abu 'Ali 'Isa ibn Zur'a (943-1008), also translated Aristotle and others from Syriac into Arabic. The first Arabic-language medical treatise was written by a Christian priest and translated into Arabic by a Jewish doctor in 683. The first hospital was founded in Baghdad during the Abbasid caliphate -- not by a Muslim, but a Nestorian Christian. A pioneering medical school was founded at Gundeshapur in Persia -- by Assyrian Christians.

The point here is simply that the great achievements of Islamic culture are being exaggerated for political and apologetic reasons today.

...In a real sense, Obama has tried to maintain two contradictory roles. On the one hand, he wants to be the darling of the left and of the cultural elites. He sneers at middle America, turns up his nose at “triumphalism” (as he described pride in the Iraq war effort), finds shoddy our record on human rights, attacks Wall Street, and finds American exceptionalism gauche. But he is also president, commander in chief, attempting to encourage an economic revival, leader of a major national party, and — most important from his perspective — up for re-election in 2012. The darling of the left runs headlong into thechief executive/presidential 2012 candidate. We saw the dramatic clash of these two roles in the debate over the Ground Zero mosque. Obama and the leftist elites vs. everyone else.

But here’s the thing about the leftist elites — nicely personified for this purpose by Jon Stewart. They don’t like a loser. Cool kids are not losers. Their spin doesn’t get by the cynics and the wisecrackers. So, pretty soon, the cool kids have something in common with the rest of America: they conclude that this president is a bumbler and not, after all, the change they were hoping for.

See, it's hard to be one of the "cool kids" when your day-to-day job involves being the leader of the free world. That kind of crushing responsiblity is bound to put a crimp in one's coolness.

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama will visit Indonesia's largest mosque and make a major outdoor speech directed at the global Muslim community when he visits Indonesia next month, the White House said on Thursday.

Obama leaves on November 5 on a 10-day trip to India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan. On November 10 in Jakarta, Obama will visit the Istiqlal Mosque, and then make his speech from another, outdoor location, where there could be a large crowd.

"He'll have a chance to talk about the partnership that we're building with Indonesia, but also to talk about some of the themes of democracy and development and our outreach to Muslim communities around the world," deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told a news conference...

Oh gawd, gag me with a spatula. Better yet, gag him with a spatula so he'll knock it off with the Muslim "outreach" speechifying.

Here's a thought, Barack: why not "reach out" to democracies for a change?

A sting operation over the course of months. Federal agents posing as al-Qaeda operatives. The text of the sacred Koran used to send coded messages.

When federal authorities arrested Farooque Ahmed, a 34-year-old Pakistani American, this week for an alleged plot to bomb Metrorail stations in Northern Virginia, Muslim groups in the area struggled with what to say publicly.

Should they condemn the man unequivocally and praise law enforcement? Or should they wait?

As details of the arrest trickled out, many in the Muslim community avoided saying anything to outsiders, but instead quietly voiced concerns to one another about the tactics used.

The ambivalence highlights the complicated and often fraught relationship between law enforcement and Muslim Americans- an alliance some say has suffered especially in the last year with the slew of stinglike operations within their communities.

Increasingly, Muslims think that even as they work with the FBI to combat terrorism, they are being spied on by authorities...

The heart bleeds.

Did the dhimmi WaPo just refer to it as the "sacred" Koran? Why, yes; yes it did. And did it try to drum up sympathy for stonewalling Muslims who are in denial about those within their own communities who represent a clear and present threat to the West due to their literal interpretation of Islamic texts and teachings? Again, the answer is a big uh-huh. But let's coddle 'em and allow 'em to wallow in their own unfounded sense of victimhood. As if that's going to help the situation.

The WaPo defines what it means to be of and in the left: it is to be inappropriately empathetic (in this case of the people who may be hiding secrets instead of, more appropriately, siding with those who are endeavouring to uncover these secrets and prevent harm to the general populace).

Update: Here's the real story, the one the dhimmi WaPo buried, the one it hoped no one would pay attention to while it was wringing its hands and renting its garments (metaphorically speaking) over the offence caused by using the "sacred" Koran in a kafir sting operation. From AP:

WASHINGTON -- The tip that led to the FBI's subway bombing sting came from a source in the Muslim community: A Pakistani-born man from a middle-class suburb was trying to join a terrorist group, law enforcement officials said Thursday.

Farooque Ahmed, a naturalized citizen arrested Wednesday, was a married father who had a good job with a telecommunications company. Authorities say he also was eager to kill Americans in Afghanistan and committed to becoming a martyr.

Ahmed thought he had found what he wanted, a pair of al-Qaida operatives who would help him carry out an attack on the nation's second-busiest subway, according to court documents unsealed Thursday. But the operatives were really undercover investigators whose meetings at a local hotel room were all staged with the FBI's cameras rolling, law enforcement officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation continues.

What followed was an elaborate ruse in which Ahmed was given intelligence-gathering duties and coded information in a Quran by two individuals posing as al-Qaida operatives as part of the supposed plot to kill commuters...

Funny how when the story is presented properly, your sympathy for those being "stung" (the poor put-upon "victims" whose "sacred" book was used to transport coded instructions and who have the sense that "they are being spied on by authorities") tends to evaporate.

The rulings of the Ontario Human Tribunal often make for interesting--if confounding--reading. This recent one, for example, details the misfortunes of a retail store manager who was in a serious car accident, and who therefore could not do her job. When her employer wasn't as understanding as she had hoped it would be re her plight, she lodged a "human rights" complaint. The basis of her complaint: she claimed she was being "discriminated" against because she was "disabled" (the "disabled" being one of Canada's extra-special protected victim groups). Not surprisingly, the OHRT, a body that's exquisitely attune to such, er, "discrimination," awarded the complainant a whack of cash.

Begging the question: how can it be a case of "discriminating" against a disabled person if the person was able-bodied up until her accident, and only became "disabled" (injured, really) afterwards? Isn't that a wee bit of a stretch, even for Ontario's "human rights" shakedown artistes?

These striking developments in Europe emphasize both how hard it is to withstand the endless expansion of the state’s role in civil society, and how hard it is to roll back even failed and financially debilitating statist policies. Public expectations become entrenched, citizens become dependent and attached to their benefits, which come to be seen as “entitlements,” and the steps necessary to redress the balance can be painful.

With considerable justification, therefore, American voters now see the impending November 2 elections as enormously consequential for their future. The individual races effectively embody a stark choice: whether to begin the daunting task of turning the United States back toward its founding principles, or whether to descend further into the status of European social democracies like France and Greece.

I'm sittin' in a kafir prison,Hopin' soon to hear a good decision.Got sidetracked in Afghanistan.Went over there with my old man.And ev'ry jail guard understandsTo wear gloves to touch the Koran.Homeward bound,I soon will be,Homeward bound.Home, where my ma is waitin'.Home, lawyers salivatin'.Home, where they're all debatin' whatMy payoff will be...

Update: Speaking of payoffs, a Calgary Herald editorial asks whether it's time to pass a Son of Sam law in Canada (so that this s.o.b. won't profit from his crime).

By which he means, of course, "Silenzio, all you Glenn Beck/Tea Partyer/Right-Wing 'Extremist'/GOP/Joy Behar-deploring loudmouths. Shut up so the only voices that can be heard are ours--the 'civil' left's."

Among today's liberal elite, bad faith in America is a sophistication, a kind of hipness. More importantly, it is the perfect formula for political and governmental power. It rationalizes power in the name of intervening against evil—I will use the government to intervene against the evil tendencies of American life (economic inequality, structural racism and sexism, corporate greed, neglect of the environment and so on), so I need your vote.

When I was growing up, we had an expression for people who did very well in school but who were, to put it bluntly, pretty hopeless when it came to most other aspects of life. We said of such types that they were "smart school; dumb life." The phrase is an excellent descriptor, I think, for American Jews who cling to their (metaphorical) guns and (actual) religion (some amalgam of DemocraticParty/Socialist/Leftist/Internationalist dogma) re someone who's really their enemy. American Thinker James Lewis has some thoughts on these Obama Jews:

American blacks vote Obama for the color of his skin. American Leftists vote O because they hope he will shaft this country more royally than anybody else has so far.

So what excuse do the Jews have? The black and the radical leftist vote O for reasons I can understand. Obama is black, even if his life experience has no relationship to the average American black person -- none at all. And Obama is a radical, so even the radicals have a reason. However, why does Obama keep his favorable standing with American Jews? It makes no sense.

With his favoritism for Muslims, by trying constantly to undermine the elected government of Israel and by constantly reaching out to a Hitler-wannabe in Iran, Obama has made it clear enough what side he's on. His friends Jodie Evans of Code Pink and Bill Ayers agitated for the Gaza flotilla that turned into a planned PR disaster for Israel. His administration supports the grotesque and shameful farce of Iran, the Sudan, and Libya sitting on the U.N. Human Rights Council. Those are genocidal, torturing, and utterly reactionary regimes. And that's just the start of Obama's bitter hatred of Israel and Western values. There's more coming -- you betcha.

American Jews are voting against their plain self-interest. They voted for someone who listened to J-Wright ranting against Jews and whites for twenty years. Wright is a race-hater, pure and simple, and he hates Whitey and the Jews. What's more, Michelle Obama is the daughter of a Chicago ward boss who grew up in that atmosphere, rife with Louis Farrakahn and the Black Muslims, J-Wright, and the ranting Father Pfleger. Michelle grew up with the Jesse Jackson family, and we know where Jesse stands. Put all that together, and you get classical Jew-hating. It's obvious to anybody who pays attention.

Obama's pal George Soros helped set up the phony front group J Street, which specializes in undermining Israel while claiming to defend it; it's classical Stalinist agitprop. Anybody could find that out. Granted that the media tried to cover it all up, but it's on the web, for goodness' sake. Use your fingers and it's right there.

Jews have the reputation of being intelligent, and academically, they often are. But Jewish smart people seem to be -- how shall I say this? -- incapable of thinking straight about politics. Once many Jews figure out what side in politics they are rooting for, they are stuck for life. No facts, no matter how persuasive, will change their minds. This is nuts. It is certainly not intelligent. In politics, American Jews seem to be idiots savant: Very bright in one part of life, but with big islands of ignorance, denial, and wishful thinking.

Of course, it does condone and shelter an annual week of Zionhass--the infamous Israel Apartheid Week. And it does condone and shelter a students' union that tries (and fails) to disguise its loathing for Israel as a disdain for "oppression". And it does condone and shelter professors who teach the Arab/Muslim "naqba" narrative exclusively, and who, for the sake of "human rights" and "social justice" would be quite happy to see Israel disappear a.s.a.p. And it does condone and shelter the Muslim Students Association, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, an outfit that is explicitly and outspokenly racist. And there was that unfortunate incident which saw Jewish students being forced to seek shelter in an effort to evade an angry mob--a mini-pogrom, if you will--of anti-oppression types who didn't condone the Jews' support for Israel (but who would never, ever condone or shelter "racism").

But that's neither here nor there. Or rather, what's over there at York U is a tacit condoning and sheltering (and care and feeding) of a furry little animus toward the Jewish state. But, as all the really clever and refined people know, that kind of "racism" doesn't really count.

Suing people--in real courts and fake "human rights" ones--for saying things that "offend" you is all the rage in certain quarters. This time, Ceej hanger-on/honouree Richard Warman is suing our old friend BCF for--get this--linking to a piece by Mark Steyn. (For a number of reasons which Steyn details here, Warman can't or won't sue Steyn directly.) BCF is on the ramparts every day, fighting to preserve our freedom. So please swing by his site and put a few dollars in the kitty's kitty because, as the Cat rightly (pun intended) explains, "this is your fight too."

In "honour" of all the dunderheads (is that actionable?) who believe censorship rocks, I have revised a number from Cabaret:

He [Wilner the shrink] said Khadr has "been marinating in a radical jihadist community" during his eight-year detention.

"He is devout, he is angry, he identifies with his family who have radical jihadist leanings."

Khadr's youth focus of defence

Defence lawyers are also expected to portray Khadr as co-operative and to suggest he is young enough that rehabilitation, rather than incarceration, will be more effective. Khadr was 15 when he threw the grenade that killed Sgt. Christopher Speers.

Even Welner has suggested that re-entry into normal society is not necessarily impossible for Khadr, because he is socially agile, strong physically and speaks four languages.

In a world where the mealy-mouthed on both the left and right are given far too much credence, it is a both a relief and a great pleasure to hear from Fouad Ajami, who refuses to romanticize Afghanistan and who isn't afraid to say what's what re Hamid Kazai's double game:

The brutal facts about Afghanistan are these: It is a broken country, a land of banditry, of a war of all against all, and of the need to get what can be gotten from the strangers. There is no love for the infidels who have come into the land, and no patience for their sermons.

Also, it has a Constitution grounded in sharia law, which, when you think about it, makes Afghanistan's friendship with an ascendant Iran, another land that adheres to sharia, seem perfectly understandable; certainly, it makes makes a lot more sense than infidels fighting and dying for what is essentially a sharia state.

ISNA and NAIT, in fact, shared more with HLF than just a parent organizaion [i.e. the Muslim Brotherhood]. They were intimately connected with the HLF and its assigned task of providing financial support to HAMAS.

It's no coincidence that those who pledge allegiance to the "old green" (the age-old colour of Islamic supremacism) and those who rally under the banner of the "new green" (the environmental movement) are colour-co-ordinated: green, both old and new, is a very appealing colour; the colour, in fact, of the triumphalists' will to power. And it's no coincidence that "Islam and the environment" is a theme of this year's Islamic History Month Canada, an event that exemplifies how the old and new greens are hooking up for the greater empowerment of both. If we let them (and how can we stop them, since, for the moment at least, we still live in an ostensibly free society?) the Islamists will ride the eco-train all the way to the end of the line. But must we, those who stand to suffer should Green prove supreme, stoke the engine and ensure the track is kept clear of debris? Does being "sensitive" to Muslim "feelings" preclude our ability to see and understand the obvious? How stupid are we? Those are the questions that popped into my head as I read this, from Maclean's (H/T BCF):

An RCMP “ethnic liaison officer” is urging his colleagues to attend a conference on a “Just and Sustainable Peace” that was organized in part by a Green Party of Canada candidate who believes the 9/11 attacks were an “inside job,” and whose participants include the director general of an NGO that endorses hate-filled stereotypes about Jews. Three academics from Iran are flying in for the event.

Among speakers scheduled to speak at the conference, which will take place in Ottawa on Oct. 28, is Davood Ameri, director general of the Iran-based “Islamic World Peace Forum,” an organization whose website includes cartoons of Israeli soldiers murdering babies, and one of a hook-nosed Jew wearing a top hat full of tiny skulls.

Saied Ameli, identified by conference organizers as dean of the faculty of global studies at Tehran University, is scheduled to attend, as is Elham Aminzadeh, reportedly of Tehran University’s faculty of law, who has praised Iran for what she describes as its efforts to protect women’s rights since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. She was formerly an Iranian parliamentarian and in 2006 claimed stoning sentences were no longer handed down in Iran. They are. A third Iranian academic scheduled to participate is Hassan Hosseini.

Nasir Islam, a professor at the University of Ottawa, is on the program; as is Vern Neufeld Redekop of Saint Paul’s University in Ottawa; Ottawa lawyer Ernest Tannis; and Zijad Delic, head of the Canadian Islamic Congress.

The conference has been organized by Green Party members who call themselves the “Ottawa Group of Four.” They include Qais Ghanem, a doctor whose posting on the “Medical Professionals for 9/11 Truth” reads: “I have, from the outset, believed that the 9/11 horrendous massacre of thousands of innocent civilians could not possibly be the work of a dozen amateur Saudis. Close watching of video clips and reading of lots of expert opinions convinced me further that this is an inside job, or that it was at the very least done with inside help.”...

Here's the real truth of 9/11: the only sustainable "peace" Islam can live with is Pax Islamica, the "peace" that will be in effect once Islam controls the eco-system--all of it.

...And lobbying for Khadr has been the Canadian Bar Association’s highest political priority. The CBA remained only secret admirers of Khadr for the first four years of his incarceration, because that’s when the prime minister and justice minister were Liberals.

The CBA could only gaze at the picture of Khadr in their locker, doodling his name in their diaries. What a relief when the Conservatives took office, and their love for Khadr could be sung from the mountaintops, in over 100 public statements.

Khadr will return the favour to the profession. The Jew-hating murderer has filed a $10-million lawsuit against the Canadian government. That’s a lot of fees for a lot of lawyers.

There are too many Khadr fans to list. But Judy Rebick’s blog entry from this summer is outstanding. Change the name “Omar Khadr” to “Justin Bieber,” and it could have been ripped from an issue of Teen Beat. “My heart aches for Omar Khadr,” wrote Rebick, comparing him to Mandela, and lauding his “courage and dignity.”

A CBC commentator and former NDP candidate, Rebick once led Canada’s state-funded women’s lobby. How a Jewish feminist could have a crush on an anti-Semitic, misogynist murderer is baffling. When hostages sympathize with their captors, psychologists call it Stockholm Syndrome. What’s Rebick’s excuse?...

Ooo, he comes on like a man,Totes a Koran,Eyes that sparkle like stars.He was fifteen,He's jihadi,And he ours.He's like Maher Arar,Allahu Akbar!One of our superstars.He was fifteen,He's jihadi,And he's ours.He's our homie,He's our lad.He went away to pursue jihad.He met Osama,Tossed a grenade.We'll never know the price he paid.He'll come outta GitmoAnd into T.O.Time for champagne and cigars!He was fifteen,He's jihadi,And he's ours...

...It couldn’t be true. Rob Ford, Mr. Double-Double, a guy who never met a cruller he didn’t like, had pulled it off. The man got himself elected mayor. All those angry suburbanites, the ones who were supposed to complain a lot but skip the actual process of voting, had turned up en masse and put the guy in office.

For Toronto’s urban sophisticates, it was a wipe-out. Total repudiation. Worse than the time they ran out of well-oaked chardonnay at Vintages. What are they supposed to do now, move to Calgary? Buy a leaf blower, for Chrissake? Any day now they’ll be erecting barriers at Pusateri’s, checking IDs. No one gets in without a credit card from Home Depot.

Wearily they munched their almond biscottis and totted up the devastation. Someone would have to contact the holistic, non-profit communal bike-sharing project and warn them the grand opening, scheduled for January, would be delayed.

Expansion of the rooftop lawn at City Hall would have to be put on ice, construction of the solar-powered arboretum delayed, shipments of biodegradable, non-toxic, soy-based weed control returned to the dealer. Oh, just keep the bloody deposit. Might as well just buy some mums at Costco and stick them in the lobby, like they do in Mississauga where that … woman… was re-elected once again. How old is she now, 300?...

Here’s some news for the folks at National Public Radio. Everybody’s nervous about Muslims on planes. Why? Because Muslims blow stuff up. Not all Muslims, of course. Not even a large percentage of Muslims. But enough Muslims all over the world to make any reasonable person take note. Even the large majority of peaceful Muslims must look at one another in airport lines and think, “By Allah, I hope he’s not one of those crazy men who blow stuff up.” It’s unpleasant. We’d all prefer it were different. But the world is as it is, not as we might wish it to be...

As for moi, I was a bigot/racist/Islamophobe waaaay before it was fashionable. How well I remember, some years before 9/11, being reluctant to board an airplane in Amsterdam bound for London just because I happened to catch a glance at the name and photo (on a piece of a paper) of a gent (one of several) being sought by police at the gate prior to the flight's departure. The chap's name, forever etched into my memory: Mohamed Mohamed. When Mo and his companions failed to show, all luggage was taken off the plane so passangers could claim what was theirs. It was only after everything was spoken for and reloaded onto the plane that I felt comfortable enough to take the flight.

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Scaramouche is my nom de Web. My real name is Mindy G. Alter, and I like to think of myself as a free speecher with a sense of humour. My bailiwick: fighting on behalf of all the good things that free speech helps safeguard, and doing my utmost to highlight the malevolence and imbicilities of those who oppose freedom, whomever they may be.